


Compromise is Key

by PoemJunkie



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Buck's a puppy, Co-Parenting, Except Eddie's oblivious, Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash, no beta we die like men, these boys are oblivious, this is basically fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:53:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24080872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoemJunkie/pseuds/PoemJunkie
Summary: Christopher wants a dog. Eddie definitely does not want a dog.Buck is siding with Christopher, which obviously means they're leaving this adoption fair with a pet.A.k.a. Eddie somehow has failed to realize he's not raising his kid alone anymore.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 65
Kudos: 1042





	Compromise is Key

Eddie should have known.

That’s all he can think, as he dragged his hand over his face, peeking warily through his fingers, hoping he might not be seeing what he thought he was seeing.

The SPCA was having a pet adoption fair at the park. 

He gave Buck a dry look.

“This wouldn’t be the reason you suggested the park today, would it?” 

Buck gave him his most guileless look.

“Would I do that to you?” And he flashed Eddie his biggest, dopiest grin, not unlike the happy doggy smile of the nearest yellow mutt jumping up on to the plastic fencing penning him in.

“Puppies,” Christopher breathed in an ecstatic whisper. “Can I pet the puppies, Daddy?”

Christopher looked up at him with a hopeful expression, and above him, he was hit with a double whammy as Buck looked at him with an equally hopeful gaze. Eddie’s a weak man.

He crouched down, getting on Christopher’s level, as he usually does when they need to have a serious heart-to-heart. “You can pet the puppies, Christopher, if the volunteers say you can. Remember, we always ask first, before we pet strange dogs.”

At this, he served Buck with a look, because he could probably use the same reminder.

He took a breath. “But I don’t want you to get attached, okay? Because I’m not home enough to help take care of a dog. It really wouldn’t be fair.”

That’s true. It’s not fair to Carla to expect her to take on a dog and Christopher while Eddie is working twenty-four hour shifts. He felt badly about it, because every kid wanted a dog, and though Christopher didn’t whine about it, Eddie knew that he adored playing with Paisley when he visited with Denny. But even if that weren’t true, Eddie would have reservations. Dogs can be excitable, get underfoot and pull even steady kids off balance during walks. Maybe a very calm dog, or a very small dog...but the point was moot. Eddie didn’t have the time.

“Okay, Daddy, I understand.” And there was only a little bit of pouting going on there. 

Not that Buck would let Christopher be down for more than ten seconds at a time. With a guiding hand on his shoulder, he ushered him along to the rows of pens holding dogs of all sizes. Within minutes, Christopher was in a pen with three fat, yappy dogs, and Christopher was being swarmed, looking thrilled the entire time. 

Eddie shook his head, following at a slightly less hurricane pace. “You’re in so much trouble,” he muttered to Buck.

“Aw, come on, Eddie,” Buck said. “The kid’s thrilled.” He took out his phone and took a quick picture, and sighed in satisfaction. “That one’s the new background,” he said, and began tapping away at his phone.

“Thrilled, and will be begging for a dog for the next three months. You know I hate being the bad guy about stuff like this.”

“It’ll be fine.”

“Buck!” Christopher called. “More puppies!”

“Whoops, got to go. The master beckons,” Buck said, hurrying over to assist Christopher back over the fence and down the path to another petting area.

Eddie shook his head ruefully, and looked up to meet the eyes of an amused looking SPCA volunteer wearing a green smock. She raised an eyebrow at him.

“We’re not getting a dog,” he informed her awkwardly. “I really don’t have the time. Sorry.”

She jerked her thumb at Christopher and Buck, who had both climbed in one of the meeting pens this time. Buck was being cheerfully mauled by a retriever mix. “That one seems enthusiastic enough for the both of you.”

Eddie huffed. “He doesn’t have the time, either,” he told her. “And he should know better.”

“Uh-huh.” She smiled at him. “The adoption forms are over there on the green table. If you need them.”

“We’re not--” This was a losing battle, Eddie decided. He learned about strategic retreat in the Army. “I’ve got to--”

He abandoned the thought mid-sentence and power walked away from her, posture so perfect even the most anal of his boot-camp drill instructors would have had trouble finding fault.

There’s a thrill of panic that runs up his chest when he looks down the row of dog pens and doesn’t spot Christopher or Buck, though he knew that was a ridiculous reaction. Then it feels slightly more reasonable, when he spots the two, Buck crouched in front of a row of terrariums on a table, housing guinea pigs, mice, rats, gerbils, and even a rabbit, with Christopher propped on his knee, watching in fascination as some variation of household rodent runs on a spinning wheel.

“Daddy,” Christopher beamed. He had a slightly sly look on his face, the kind nine-year-olds get when they know they’re about to score a major victory against the parental units. “You know, a hamster wouldn’t need very much time to take care of at all.”

Buck looked up at him, looking slightly guilty, but also hopeful. 

Eddie bit back a sigh. He crouched down next to Buck and looked into the cage on the table, where a cinnamon-colored hamster was running on a bright red plastic wheel.

Sensing blood in the water, Christopher goes in for the kill. 

“I could probably take care of him all by myself, Daddy. He’s not very big.”

Eddie wavered. A hamster is a pet that Christopher could mostly handle by himself, and he was always looking for things to bolster his independence. He glanced at Buck, who still has a wheedling expression on his face. 

“A pet is a big responsibility, buddy,” he tried, though why he was fighting the inevitable, he didn’t know.

“I would be very responsible.”

Eddie needed to stall. “Let me and Buck talk about it, okay?”

Christopher looked thrilled. “That means yes.”

“No, it means Buck and I have to talk about it.”

It’s such a typical parental exchange, Eddie almost doesn’t realize until the words are out of his mouth, because what does he mean he has to talk to Buck about it? Eddie’s the parent here. There’s no need to consult with Buck. Except now that he’s said it, he doesn’t quite know how to take the words back.

Belatedly, he realized he’d done the same thing when the volunteer had suggested Buck could take on pet-care duties. The correct answer to that wasn’t, _“He doesn’t have the time, either,”_ for God’s sake, it was, _“He doesn’t live with us,”_ and _“It wouldn’t be his dog.”_

And now a random shelter employee thinks Eddie and Buck are a couple, and Eddie didn’t even _notice_.

Christopher gave him a look that clearly said he didn’t think there was any way Buck wasn’t going to be in his corner about getting a pet, but shrugged. “Can you talk about it now, Daddy? Only I don’t want someone else to adopt him before you make up your mind.”

Buck is already sidling over, taking Eddie’s elbow. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, bud,” he said, giving Christopher a wink and pulling Eddie down the path so they can talk in private.

God, Christopher is definitely ending up with that damned hamster.

“Now, I know what you’re going to say, but hamsters are great for a first pet, and they’re pretty low-maintenance. And you only have to clean out their cages once a week or so, so I can definitely help with that, and you won’t have to do anything at all,” Buck blurted, the second they were reasonably out of earshot. “And the kid wants a pet so damn bad, Eddie.” He grimaced. “Though we’ll have to look into something better than those plastic cages they sell at WalMart. They’re not adequate at all. Hamsters need a surprising amount of space. Did you know they can run several miles a night?”

Eddie was still reeling from the revelation that apparently Buck factors into his parental decision making. “Did you research hamsters?” he asked, a little dazed.

“Well, I didn’t think you’d really go for a dog.”

“Do I consult you about Christopher?” he blurted.

Buck blinked, and then looked a little nervous. “I’m overstepping?” he asked, in a small voice.

Maybe that had come out a bit more accusatory than Eddie had meant it.

“No -- I -- Look, Christopher can have the hamster, though I know I’m going to regret it, and also you shouldn’t be conspiring against me with him, but I’m actually asking. About consulting you about Christopher.”

Buck fidgeted. “I wouldn’t say...consult. And not about everything.”

He looked so damn earnest, but now Eddie was thinking furiously. 

The thing was, for years, Eddie hadn’t had to discuss parenting styles with anyone. His was the first, last and only word. Even when Shannon had come back, she’d been tentative with Christopher, not wanting to step on Eddie’s toes, and not wanting to play the bad cop to Christopher while she was trying to rebuild their relationship, and so everything had still been based on Eddie’s decisions.

He’d never put Christopher off with “I’ll have to talk to Mom about that,” not once that he could recall. 

Perhaps because he was alone, it was natural to seek a second opinion once in a while. But why he had gone to Buck, the youngest member and particularly child-free of the 118, to ask his opinion on whether Christopher was old enough to watch _Coraline_ , was, in hindsight, a bit baffling.

Buck had never heard of _Coraline_ , but after a quick on-demand rental, had texted Eddie a string of horrified observations as he pre-screened it for Chris, and come back with a very firm _no_ on its appropriateness for an 8-year-old. Probably a good call, as Buck himself had had nightmares for a week about the spider mother with the buttons for eyes.

Or when Chris had been tepid about his new occupational therapist, but Eddie had been reluctant to switch, because the guy had been recommended by Carla, herself. He’d hashed that out with Buck over three weeks, until Buck had -- Eddie’s now realizing this is what it was -- put his foot down and said Christopher had given the guy a fair shot, and still didn’t seem to gel with him and his firm style, and had come over with eyes blazing and a list of new recommendations from Carla. 

Eddie tried to remember the last time he and Christopher went on an outing and Buck wasn’t there. He couldn’t. Buck had met Christopher, and their adoration was instant and mutual, and from then on, asking to invite Buck had become such a given that Christopher didn’t even ask anymore. He just expected Buck to be there.

Eddie felt like he’d received a blow between the eyes, but also like he was probably a blind idiot.

“Are you my co-parent?” he asked, feeling dazed. 

Buck looked devastated, though for the life of him, Eddie can’t quite figure out why.

“No, of course not,” Buck said. “I know I’m not. I know Christopher’s your son, not mine, Eddie, I promise. I just get excited sometimes.”

“That’s not --” Eddie possibly needed to shut his mouth before he stuck his foot any further in there. “I’m not...accusing you, Buck. I’m -- it’s a statement.”

Now, Buck just looks confused. “It didn’t sound like a statement.”

Eddie forced his shoulders back, trying to get back on solid ground. “You’re my co-parent,” he said, with more confidence this time. And it felt...right. “I think probably for a while now.”

“I -- Eddie, I don’t know what that means.”

Eddie doesn’t either. He doesn’t know how he got into a situation where he’s co-parenting with his platonic best friend. 

Eddie took a deep breath. “I think, right now, it means Christopher gets his hamster, and you get to clean the cage out with him every weekend, since this was all your idea.” Then, with a knowing look, because let’s face it, Buck is the fun parent. “With him, Buck, don’t let him con you into taking over his responsibilities.”

And also he might make Buck take Christopher to get new shoes. Chris is a nightmare about getting new shoes.

“You’re not mad?”

Eddie doesn’t know what he would possibly be mad about. That Buck loves his kid? That his kid loves Buck? That Buck is so invested in their lives that Eddie hasn’t felt like a single parent in a long time, and just never realized it?

“I’m not mad.”

Buck looked as though a thousand pound weight had been lifted from him. “Oh, thank God.”

Eddie’s lips quirked into a smile. “Why don’t you go tell the kid the good news and help him pick one out, and I’ll get the paperwork.”

Buck grinned. “He’s definitely picked one out already. He knows you can’t say no to both of us at the same time.”

Buck trotted off to Christopher, and Eddie watched, thinking he and Buck should probably have a talk about that at some point. Something warm and almost painful in its intensity settled under his breastbone as he watched Buck rejoin Christopher, and get a cheer and a big hug as he broke the good news. 

Eddie took his walk of shame to the green table, and in a flash, the volunteer is there, smiling with a knowing look on her face. 

“We’re not getting a dog,” he said, accepting the adoption form with bad grace.

She nodded. “Don’t worry too much about it,” she said. “My husband can’t say no to me, either.” She looked over to where Buck crouched on the sidewalk, Christopher on his knee. Buck is pressing a kiss to Chris’s hair, their blond heads pressed close together. “And, to be fair, he’s more adorable than me.” She grinned. “The kid’s not bad, either.”

Eddie opened his mouth, but instead of “He’s not my husband,” which is really what he _should_ say, or even, “I know. I’m doomed,” which is what he was thinking at the moment, what comes out is, “Thank you.”

He took his clipboard with the adoption application, and turned to walk back to his boys.

**Author's Note:**

> Look I'm marking this as a one-shot but in my head it's like a 60,000 word slow-burn friends-to-family-to-lovers situation where Eddie is a dumbass and doesn't realize he and Buck are basically married until they've been living together six months and literally every person he's ever met points it out to him, and even then he's like, "But this is a very normal situation where me and my best friend platonically raise my son together and just don't date other people, ever, as you do," (You know. LIKE IN CANON.) and Buck is an insecure bean that would have been in Eddie's bed from day one but is also like, "I don't know? I didn't think I'd get this far?" whenever he thinks about how to move their relationship forward.


End file.
